Jan. 14, 2014
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President Obama at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting. / Carolyn Kaster, AP

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

by David Jackson, USA TODAY

President Obama again declared Tuesday that 2014 will be "a year of action," and he is willing to take executive action to push it along.

"We are not just going to be waiting for (congressional) legislation in order to make sure that we're providing Americans the kind of help that they need," Obama said before a Cabinet meeting.

Outlining an agenda that includes immigration, education assistance, manufacturing help, and a new budget plan, Obama said that "I've got a pen and I've got a phone" to get things done.

The pen can be used "to sign executive orders and take executive actions and administrative actions that move the ball forward," Obama said.

The phone "allows me to convene Americans from every walk of life -- non-profits, businesses, the private sector, universities -- to try to bring more and more Americans together around what I think is a unifying theme," he said. "Making sure that this is a country where if you work hard, you can make it."